Yahoo! Games At E3
Bringing timid, antisocial gamers together in a big way.
Tags: e3 2005 Categories: Features, PC Features, Tech Features, Xbox Features
Posted by Ludwig on Jun 28th, 2005
Decorated with rickety metal structures, abandoned wheelbarrows and worn shovels, a nifty “Under Construction” motif permeated the Yahoo! Games booth at E3…assuming that it was intentional, that is. In the middle of the whole arrangement was something quite extraordinary, however, something which quite possibly featured the only instance of people playing a real game in the entire convention – Poker. Real human interaction is nearly impossible to find at E3, with even basic communication taking the form of people shouting at each other through a DS over at the Nintendo booth, yet there it was in all its disgusting glory. When not staring intently at their selection of cards, the unfortunate Poker players had to resort to acknowledging the other players through intimidating stares and the intense furrowing of brows. A deplorable display of humans interacting if there ever was one, it clearly demonstrated Yahoo! Games’ ability to put on a freakshow. Luckily, their online plans for gamers don’t involve actual human contact. Phew.
Though their moniker may imply that some sort of ultra-violent first-person search engine is in the works, Yahoo! Games is more focused on providing a meeting point for gamers to learn about, discuss and, most importantly, play their favorite titles. The premise is simple and should be familiar to those that already find themselves part of the sprawling network of Yahoo! services. After setting up an account and creating a suitable avatar, gamers can dive right into the Yahoo! Games network, an interactive hub for all things related to gaming. Ideally, a person would be able to use the service to meet new friends with similar gaming interests, find out about upcoming games and join online servers for some multiplayer mayhem.
Though there are a plethora of original games intended for play on the Yahoo! Games network, some of which will even allow players to earn rare items and save them to their profiles for later use, games from all the major publishers form the most integral part of the service. Indeed, Yahoo! intends to act as a cooperative partner in more ways than one, accompanying the gamer from his first encounter with a game right through to his rise in the online ranking boards. The first step is a partnership with the online gaming press that allows a user to look up a game through the Yahoo! Games site and instantly gain access to reviews and other feedback of the title in question. Naturally, if it seems like a good game, Yahoo! Shopping is merely a click away.
Should the user already own the game, further options will be available, including access to forums discussing the merits of the game, online ranking boards and, should the game feature an online component, available multiplayer servers along wth usage and capacity statistics. From this point, it’s easy to load up the game and join any server, all whilst maintaining your unique Yahoo! Games avatar. Yahoo! Messenger also comes into play, as it will display your status and will allow you to invite friends on your contact list to join the game – even via their mobile phones. There is no escape.
With a bright future that looks to include support for handheld multiplayer devices (think PSP), the Yahoo! Games service is very promising indeed. Providing a centralized approach to online gaming, both in terms of competition and community, gamers would do well to keep an eye on this convenient and multi-faceted approach to bringing gamers from across the world together…and thankfully, there’s none of that awkward human contact involved.
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Tags: e3 2005
Posted by Ludwig on Jun 28th, 2005 and is filed under Features, PC Features, Tech Features, Xbox Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
